Dolphins’ Grand Final heartbreak

A fairy tale double Grand Final win wasn’t to be for the Redcliffe Dolphins this afternoon with both the Hastings Deering Colts and Hostplus Cup sides falling short at Moreton Daily Stadium.

The Colts side went down 46-32 to the Townsville Blackhawks, who were dominant in attack and defence, in what was a high-scoring game with plenty for fans of both sides to cheer for.

It was a tale of redemption for Townsville who lost last year’s Grand Final and survived an early scare of two Redcliffe tries in the opening 15 minutes to regroup.

Dolphins players to score tries throughout the game were Marcus Spence, Jack Aiken, William Dobson, Demitric Sifakula, Bailey Morgan and Taniela Otukolo. Captain Cody Hunter kicked four conversions.

Many fans turned up early to watch the Colts play ahead of the Hostplus Cup Grand Final between Redcliffe Dolphins and Norths Devils.

The Devils were too good defensively, winning the nailbiter 16-10 and snaring back-to-back Grand Finals.

They fought off a gallant Redcliffe attack in response to two big ‘Redcliffe’ calls from the crowd in the last 10 minutes from the Des Webb stand.

A shattered Head Coach Scott Murray agreed his squad put in a mighty effort in front of a crowd of more than 7300.

“We were there right to the end and that’s the nature of the group. They kept swinging and perhaps there were periods there that we could have handled it a bit better. Maybe Norths did, I thought they defended pretty well,” Murray said.

Norths held Redcliffe players up over the line on a number of occasions throughout the game, frustrating the Dolphins’ attempts to level the score.

Some Devils fans in the crowd believed if the game had lasted another five minutes, Redcliffe may have broken through.

“They scrambled really well,” Murray said.

When asked if he was proud of his group of players, Murray was quick to answer.

“Absolutely. It’s really hard to take now, I don’t know if it gets easier, but I’m just really proud of the group that they’ve become.”

Redcliffe players to score tries during the game were Setu Tu in the 60^th minute and Edward Burns in the 72th minute. Bryce Donovan kicked one penalty goal and missed two conversion attempts.

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Photos: Dominika Lis